In Love with Death
by dracoyoflam
Summary: Draco is in love with a woman who is dying, Hermione granger. He decides to spend more time with her while he still can but what will she think?
1. I'm Dying

Chapter 1: I'm dying

"Ouch, sorry."

Hermione said as she tripped and landed against someone. She was pulled up by strong arms and her brown eyes met his blue ones. She was surprised to see who she landed against and people immediately glanced around to see what would happen.

"Maybe next time you'll land on your face and you won't have to worry about apologizing to anyone, anymore."

Hermione's weak body could hardly hold itself up when he finally let go of her arms. Hermione looked down at the floor and whispered a reply as her shoved past her.

"Soon. I won't even be here to apologize to you."

She slowly started walking towards her destination in the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. Draco glanced back as he heard the soft reply and almost ran into someone himself.

He blew it off and kept walking alongside his friends and followers. He quickly led the pack down the stairs toward the dungeon dormitories.

Hermione slowly sat down next to Ginny Weasley, her best friend. Most of the students had already made it to their dorms so the grand hall was getting quieter and quieter around them.

"Hermione when are you going to tell someone about your condition?"

Hermione gave her a hard look and glanced around to make sure no one was close enough to hear their conversation. Once she had her results she turned back toward Ginny leant forward.

"I told you didn't I? Anyway, what's the point in telling people, I'm going either way."

Ginny frowned and tried not to show more emotion at the sad reality they were facing. She had been trying to get Hermione to tell someone for so long now that she was tempted to do something about it. However, she knew that she couldn't betray her friend in such a way.

"Fine. I just want to help anyway that I can and you know as well as I that Harry will be rightfully pissed off when he finds out. Which you know that he'll find out somehow eventually, it's just the way he was built."

Hermione sighed and put her hand to her chest which now held a sharp pain. Her breathing became uneven and she knew that her friend had noticed, not that she was trying to hide it from her. The pain was becoming more and more painful and frequent.

She pulled her hand away from her chest and laid it on her leg. She grabbed a handful of cloth on her leg and clenched as tight as she could while trying not to show it on her face. She took a deep breath in through her nose and finally replied.

"I don't care. He won't have long to be mad."

The great hall emptied out some more and now there were only a few people left sitting around the tables. She unclenched her fist and stood up as best she could before walking towards the exit.

"Hermione, you can't just leave like this. You have to talk to me. I love you okay, you're my best friend. Just… I worry alright."

Ginny stood up and followed Hermione away from the table.

Hermione turned on her heal and Ginny almost tumbled over from the sudden stop. Hermione put her hand back on her chest and tightly closed her eyes.

"Stop. I don't need you to follow me."

She paused and opened her eyes.

"I'm dying, I don't need a chaperone to do it. Okay?"

Ginny's eyes teared up but she walked past Hermione as she replied, "I'm not following you, I'm going to see some friends. Bye."

She was obviously mad and upset but Hermione just didn't want to make a big deal out of anything, it would just make things harder.

Hermione walked out of the great hall and out of the castle. She headed out of the small door by the Gryffindor Tower and ended up by the lake.

Unfortunately, someone was close enough to hear the whole conversation and followed her to the lake.

Draco Malfoy.

He followed behind her in the shadows and finally stopped when she reached the lake. She leant down by the lake and watched her reflection in the water, she laid down on her stomach and propped her head up on her palms.

Draco slowly crept closer until he reached the edge of the shadows, he knelt down and watched her from the distance.

He watched as her curly hair shined in the sunlight. They both relaxed outside for about an hour before he saw her suddenly jolt up.

Hermione had been laying there staring at herself and day dreaming when blood started dripping onto her arm. She quickly sat up and pinched her nose with her fingers. The blood came quick but wouldn't go the same way.

The blood was slowly covering more of her arm when a figure stood over her and offered a handkerchief. She grabbed it and held it to her face.

"Thank you."

"Your welcome."

She glanced up when she recognized the voice. Her face was one of shock and his was one of genuine kindness.

She turned away from him as soon as she realized what was happening. She didn't want anyone to know about her illness and here was her enemy seeing it all.

"Wh… What are you doing here?"

She still faced the river with the silver cloth covering her face.

"I just thought I would offer you something."

She giggled hysterically and replied, "And what would that be? Rude, sarcastic remarks, because I could get those from anyone."

She started wiping off her arm and then her face before she glanced down at the cloth she had been using. It was drenched in blood, the silver was nowhere to be seen.

"Sorry, but I think it's ruined."

"It's alright, I'll deal with it later."

Hermione sat the cloth down and turned around to face him. They were sitting down and facing each other now. Draco scooted closer to her and started to reach for her face when she pulled away from him.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

She stilled herself and he reached for her again. He rubbed her skin to get some of the smudged blood off of her. He pulled his hand away and rinsed it in the lake.

"Why are you being nice to me?"

She asked and rubbed her forehead.

"Honestly, nobody's around to see it so why not be myself."

He grabbed her hand and pulled it away from her head. He replaced it with his own hand which he rubbed in a circle while muttering a spell under his breath. Hermione noticed his hand in his pocket, he was holding his wand.

Her head slowly started to feel better, the pain was fading and he was doing it. Hermione was suddenly thankful that someone other than Ginny knew about her situation.

"That is honest." She sighed with pleasure.

The pain was gone and in it's place was a relaxing pleasurable sensation. Her eyes were closed and her body started to relax.

Draco closed his eyes and reveled in the sensation of their shared pleasure. He enjoyed healing her pain but he enjoyed causing the mixed sensation even more. Unfortunately, for them both, he finally let go of his wand and the feeling stopped for them both.

Draco opened his eyes and took in the sight of Hermione with her eyes closed coming off of the spell. She looked beautiful.

Hermione kept her eyes closed until her pulled his hand away. She stared at him and he stared back. They kept each other's gaze for a while until she finally decided to speak.

"Um.. Thanks again."

She smiled at him.

"You are quite helpful aren't you, when you want to be."

He grinned and glanced around as he replied, "Yeah, I've had family with ailments so I had to learn. Of course, it didn't have the same end result that we had but I think it's different because of the connection we have."

"Connection?"

He face became questioning as she leant forward a little more.

"Yeah, we have a strong connection, whether it's a good one or bad one I don't know yet but it's there."

She could feel his hot breath on her face. She became subconscious of herself in that moment as she remembered the bloody handkerchief sitting next to them.

"So, Malfoy, why did you come out here anyway?"

She felt good for the first time in weeks and he had done it. She couldn't believe the events unfolding in front of her were really happening. It felt like a dream.

"I wanted to see how you were. I know we've never really talked mostly because I'm always being followed around by idiots who idealized Voldemort and what he represented. Now though, I think you need my help and frankly, I want to be around you while I still can."

Hermione looked down at her hands.

"So you know."

Draco sighed aloud.

"I know. You don't have to worry though, I won't tell anyone."

She giggled to herself.

"Of course you won't. People would know something was strange. I mean, you still want to act like a prat in front of people right?"

He cleared his throat.

"Well… yeah, it's probably safer that way."

"Oh safe? Alright. I'm dying but yeah, I'm worried about being safe."

Draco flinched at the word but Hermione didn't notice. Hermione leaned away and turned toward the lake. The sun was setting and they would have to go inside soon.

"I'm sorry Hermione but it just has to be this way, at least for now."

Hermione stood up and started away.

"Since when is it _Hermione_? I think I prefer the public Draco, at least then I know where I stand."

Draco was left sitting there as Hermione walked away from him and into the castle. Draco picked up the bloody cloth and shoved it in his pocket. He glided to his feet and slowly made his way to the castle with his head hung low.

He failed to let her know how he felt and he was running out of time. He had always though he would have as much time as he needed but she was dying and he had no idea how long it would be before she was gone.

He was in love with a woman who hated him.


	2. The Answer

Chapter 2: The answer

The next day Hermione was well rested thanks to the spell that Draco had performed on her. She hadn't slept well since she found out she was dying. So far she hadn't seen Malfoy anywhere and she was hoping that she wouldn't, things had gotten intense and strange when they talked by the lake.

One of the stranger things about it was the fact that she wanted to feel those things with him again. She knew it was wrong but she still couldn't help daydreaming about it in class.

Harry and Ron had gotten used to the change in Hermione and hardly noticed it anymore, so at least she didn't have any explaining to do. Ginny however was a different story.

Ginny saw that she had gotten some sleep and took that as a good sign but she wanted to know where Hermione went after dinner. The best that she could come up with was sick in the bathroom, at least it sounded real and it had happened often enough for her to believe it.

Hermione knew that she couldn't put off seeing Malfoy for any longer because she had a class with him before dinner. She managed to get to class before him at least and tried not to look behind her every time she heard someone enter the room.

She was doing pretty well until she felt like someone was staring at her. She looked back to prove that she was being paranoid again and instead met eyes with him.

He was sitting in the very back with an empty seat on either side of him. He was alone. His _followers_ obviously decided to skip class like they sometimes liked to do but he came. They stared at each other for a minute until Harry nudged her shoulder.

"Hermione, what are you looking at? Class is starting."

She turned around to face him and smiled.

"I was just thinking about ditching but I guess I won't now that _class_ is starting." She laughed.

Harry frowned at her.

"I'm kidding. I just don't feel like being here right now, I want to be outside while it's still daylight."

Harry's frown disappeared as he replied.

"Oh, well I'm glad that you actually want to go outside but I think we should quiet down now, Snape is getting that look he gets just before he comes over to harass us."

He finished by looking toward at Snape.

Hermione glanced behind her one last time and followed her friends instructions. The class was boring and went on forever.

She could still feel the eyes on her back and felt them there through the whole class. She didn't relax until the class was finally dismissed. She stood up and turned to Harry.

"You go ahead, I'll catch up. I want to grab something on my way."

He scooted past her and replied, "Alright, see you there."

Harry joined up with Ron and they walked out of the class together. Hermione stayed back until the class was mostly empty, the only other person in the room with her was Draco Malfoy.

She slowly made her way to Draco where she joined him at the large black table. She sat down in one of the empty seats and leaned next to him. He didn't look at her, he just stayed still and quiet.

"No one's here, you can talk to me now. I know that you want to."

She poked his arm and leaned closer. His lips turned into his trademark smirk but he didn't reply.

"Come on Malfoy, I can't stay here all day."

He finally turned to face her and scooted his chair closer to hers. They were so close that their legs were touching, creating a current of sexual electricity. He could hear her as her breath caught in her throat.

"Well, you could but then your friends would get worried."

She grinned.

"They wouldn't get worried."

She paused and took a breath as she moved even closer to him. Now their legs were interlocked and the move almost turned into foreplay because they were so close to touching each other in more places than their legs.

This time when she caught her breath, so did he. Draco cleared his throat to try and escape the energy that was building, it didn't work.

"Why were you staring at me?"

She asked in a whisper.

Draco glanced around and stood up. Hermione was shocked but stood up in front of him. They were still so close they were against each other.

Neither one of them moved for a long time. When Hermione finally decided to move, he beat her to it. He moved away and made for the doorway. Before he walked out he answered her question.

"I was staring at you…"

He paused when she turned to look at him.

"Because you're beautiful."

He finished romantically before he walked out.

Hermione stood there for a long time before she finally walked out of the room and headed for the Great Hall. She knew that if she ran into Draco around people, he would be mean to her and she almost welcomed it.

At least it would be something normal and inside she thought that maybe she would even enjoy it.

She walked into the room and immediately went to her table and sat down with Ginny, she didn't look at the table that she so desperately wanted to.

"Hermione, what took so long? I've been waiting for you."

Hermione cleared her throat and realized that she was still turned on from the encounter. She took a breath and smiled to herself; she could feel his eyes on her again.

'Because you're beautiful.' She remembered his words as soon as she felt it.

She turned towards Ginny and tried to focus on her friend.

"Sorry, I lost track of time. I couldn't find what I was looking for so it doesn't matter."

"Uh, okay." Ginny simply replied.

Hermione started putting food on her plate, she was actually hungry today. She knew that her friend was confused but didn't want to press the issue. She should be happy that her friend was feeling better.

"Look Hermione, I think I'm just going to go. I'm tired and I actually have homework that I'm going to do. I'm glad that you're feeling well today though."

Ginny stood up and walked away.

"Okay."

Hermione replied to herself.

It didn't take long for the Great Hall to empty out since she showed up later than everyone else. To her surprise though, Draco left too. She finished up her meal and was the last one to leave the room.

She headed out the same door as yesterday and walked slowly to the lake where she sat with Draco. He was nowhere to be seen.

Hermione laid down and stared up at the sky which became darker and darker until she was finally looking at the stars. The students weren't supposed to be out after dark but she just didn't care about the rules anymore. What could they do to her that was worse than death.

The next thing she knew, she was being awakened by someone moving next to her. She looked over as Draco laid down by her. He got comfortable and eventually met her gaze.

"Hey."

She simply said in a whisper.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I just thought I'd join you."

He whispered back.

She moved closer to him until their arms were touching. She felt comfort in his touch and knew that she could lay there with him forever.

"How did you manage sneaking out?"

He smiled.

"I'm a Slytherin, I know how to be sneaky."

"Okay. Then why did you come out here?"

His response was quicker than she had expected.

"I want to be with you."

Their whispered conversation paused as Hermione broke their staring contest to look up at the sky. The stars were bright and proved a great distraction for the moment.

"Why do you want to be with me? I don't understand you're sudden involvement in my life."

Draco reached his hand closer and grabbed her fingers into his own. She responded by squeezing his hand in agreement to the touch. Draco joined her in watching the stars.

"That's a difficult question to answer without being overpowering. So why don't we just enjoy the moment and I'll tell you when the timing is right."

She sighed in silent frustration at his answer but accepted it anyway. Instead she relaxed against his touch and turned to face him. She had never realized how handsome he could be until that moment with him laying next to her.

"You want to be with me."

Draco turned his head and their eyes met once more.

"Of course, that's what we were just talking about."

He answered with a confused expression. Hermione waited a moment and then rolled onto her side which brought her almost on top of him. She leaned down to where their noses were almost touching.

She glanced down to his lips and thought about what to say. She licked her lips and cleared her throat, she was getting turned on again. He simply had that affect on her now.

"No, I mean… You want to be with me, intimately."

She whispered enticingly.

Draco was surprised by the turn of events but decided that at that moment, honesty was the best policy as he sometimes said. He reached his hand up and softly cupped her cheek.

"Yes."

He said and leaned in.

He waited a second for her to push him away but instead she leaned over him and their lips met. The kiss started slowly and romantically but steadily grew more hungry.

Eventually, she was on top of him and his hands were on her. One was tangled in her hair while the other grabbed her waist. It didn't take much time for them to run out of breath and break apart.

They looked at each other and took in the sight. He was out of breath and blushing slightly while her lips were red and her clothes disheveled. They were only apart for a moment when he flipped her onto her back and he rolled on top of her.

He started kissing her again. It grew even more passionate with time and she opened her mouth to welcome his tongue. Her hands were in his soft blonde hair and his were grabbing a hold in different places. He had her leg pulled up by one hand which he so wanted to move lower and the other was softly rubbing her neck.

It wasn't long before they were groaning into each other's kiss. It was almost like he was casting the spell on her again.

It wasn't until her hands found his bottom that he pulled away and broke the kiss. They were panting and wanting more but he knew that he had to stop. He didn't want things to happen this way or this fast.

"Wait."

He breathed out in a groan as she pressed her pelvis against him.

"What? Hear someone coming to catch you with a Mudblood?"

She said sarcastically as she removed her hands from his bottom. She was obviously hurt by his choice to stop the passionate actions.

"Don't do that Hermione. I just don't want things to move to fast." 

She laughed and he removed his hands and rolled off of her. She moved onto her side and poked him in the ribs.

"What? You act like I'm trying to steal your virtue or something."

He pushed her hand away and sat up, she groaned and sat up next to him. The romance had faded and left them feeling empty.

"Don't be mad at me alright. I just…" He paused and glanced at her.

He brushed his fingers through his hair and continued.

"Do you even like me Hermione?"

She was taken aback by the question but quickly replied with one of her own.

"Do you even like me Malfoy? I mean, you just show up and now things are different. What the hell is going on?"

Draco grabbed her hand but she pulled away from him. He sighed and moved closer to her.

"Of course I like you. Why else would I be here. I'm sorry I didn't let you know sooner but I just figured I'd have time after all this ridiculous political crap ended, you know."

Hermione felt herself relax a little and she realized that maybe she was overreacting. She fixed her clothes and laid her hand on top of his in apology.

"Fine and you know what? I honestly don't know if I like you yet."

She stopped and grabbed a hold of his hand and held it to her chest.

"But I think that I'm starting to. Things are confusing enough with my impending doom and now I have this to deal with. I want to like you and I think that my feeling for you are growing but it's been one day."

Draco chuckled and stood up to leave.

"Don't go."

She said loudly as she stood up and grabbed his arm. She really didn't know what else to say so she just waited for him to say something.

He turned around to face her and grinned.

"Alright but no more serious conversation for the night, clear?"

He asked and sat down at her feet. She happily joined him and they started talking about unimportant silly things. They talked for what seemed like hours before they were eventually laying back down with each other. It was comfortable and friendly without being suggestive which they both now appreciated.

The night grew somehow darker and before they knew it, they were dozing off in each other's arms.

Draco fell asleep before Hermione and she grinned to herself when she heard his soft snores. She thought about things for a long time and finally decided that she did in fact like him and felt a crush developing.

She once again rolled onto her side and stared at his angelic face. She touched his face with her fingertips and marked this memory one of her favorites.

She leaned down and softly kissed his lips before she laid down on his chest. She felt his arms wrap tightly around her and she knew that he had been awake and had the answer to his earlier question.


	3. New Symptom

Chapter 3: New Symptom

Hermione woke up to the feeling of something wet across her face, she slowly sat up and groaned. She opened her eyes and saw red on herself and Draco. He was still sleeping soundly and breathing softly.

Hermione wiped at her face and blood covered her hand. She could feel the wet blood smeared on her face. It spread from her nose and mouth to her hair on her left side.

She felt somewhat embarrassed but mostly she felt pissed off. She felt awful and it was all because of what someone did to her during the war. She unfortunately took out her anger on the closest person.

She shoved Draco hard in the side and he rolled over onto his side. She sighed angrily and scooted closer.

"Hey, wake up! I got blood on your shirt, can't you feel it?"

He still didn't respond.

She growled and poked him repeatedly in the back until he finally jerked awake and pushed her hand away.

"Wake up you idiot, I'm bleeding… again."

Draco finally turned towards her and opened his eyes. He sat up right away and his face turned into a look of shock.

"Hermione. What happened?"

She wiped her hands on her jeans and then crossed her arms in front of her chest. Draco cleared his throat and put his hands on her arms and held her at arms length to study her condition. She responded by shoving his hands away and started wiping at her face again.

"What happened is that I'm sick, okay. I'm dying more everyday no matter how nice you think you can be or how much you like me or vise versa. Now I've stained yet even more clothes and embarrassed myself."

She paused to take in his confused expression before she stood up and continued talking.

"Look, I'm sorry and I'll talk to you later when I feel better and I'm not so pissed off, alright?"

She didn't wait for a response, she started walking toward the castle while still rubbing at her face.

This time, Draco didn't let her go so easily. He started off after her and caught up quickly, she was hardly walking and was starting to sway. She could hear him coming up behind her so she stopped and sighed loudly.

Draco stepped in front of her and pulled off his shirt. He yanked it over his blond head and pulled it off of his arms, he straightened it out and paused.

"Let me help you Hermione." He whispered.

She met his eyes finally but didn't leave them there long, she nodded and glanced away from his face. Draco took a step forward and reached toward her with his already stained shirt.

First he grabbed her hand and pulled it to his chest. Her arm was straightened as he started wiping the blood off of it. Hermione stared at the blood that was smeared on his chest and had run down onto his rib cage.

She didn't like the look of it on him, it made it look like he had been hurt and she didn't like the thought of it so she turned her head away to stare at the open land.

When she felt that the blood was off her arm, she tried to pull away but he held on tightly and pulled her closer to himself. She didn't fight it very much, mostly because she knew it would do no good and also because she found that she didn't really want to.

Now they were inches apart but she still didn't look at him. He started to softly rub the cloth on her face. He started by her mouth then slowly moved by her nose.

Hermione felt anxious, embarrassed and just plain strange. The feeling of him washing her face of blood was such an odd experience but she was glad that she didn't have to sneak around people in the castle so they wouldn't see the blood that covered her.

Draco slowly moved across her face until the only blood left was in her hair. He lowered his hands and balled up his shirt. He cleared his throat and started to move away from her.

"Draco, stop."

She grabbed his arm and he stopped. She finally looked up at him but she felt dizzy so didn't keep his gaze like she normally would do otherwise.

"I'm sorry, it's just that this is a new symptom and when that happens, I tend to get a little angry."

She finally let go of his arm and stumbled back, she barely managed to stay on her feet. She decided that it was probably because of the blood loss and tried to stay on her feet while acting like it was normal so he wouldn't notice.

Of course he noticed and grabbed a hold of her arms to hold her in place.

"Your looking a little out of it, are you alright?"

As he finished the question she fell down to her knees. Her breathing got strained and she started coughed into her hand, when she pulled it away they were both surprised to see fresh blood.

Draco immediately kneeled down in front of her and managed to grab her as she passed out into his arms.

He glanced around before he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her into his arms. He stood up with her and grunted as his muscles flexed from the added dead weight of her in his arms.

He turned around and slowly headed for the castle as the fresh blood made it's way across her hand, down her fingers and trickled slowly on the grass.

He knew how this would look if anyone caught them so he decided that being a sneaky Slytherin would come in handy yet again.


End file.
